Pray for the Father of Nathan and Phil Bryant
This news comes from Beth Bryant, wife of Phil. (They are planting a Community of Hope, Grace Brethren church in Surrey, British Columbia. His twin brother, Nathan, is the executive director of GBCanada USA, the Grace Brethren church planting organization in Canada.) It is reprinted here with their permission.
As I write this, Philip is headed east to be with his family; Nathan and his family should have arrived. As some of you know, their dad had quadruple by-pass surgery in early July. From the beginning, complications set in, and he was in and out of ICU for nearly 2 months. He had requested that no extreme measures be taken, but certain procedures were allowed because it was hoped that they would give him time recover on his own.
Three weeks ago, he was finally moved to rehab, and we hoped that he would begin to gain strength, but it became very obvious two nights ago that those weak systems were not recovering, other infections had set in and that what had been intended as temporary measures were now all that sustained him. That is very much against his expressed wishes, and on Sunday, the family made the very difficult decision to honor his wishes; he will be taken off life support equipment on Monday morning. The assumption is that he will not live for very long after it is removed, almost certainly no more than a day or two.
So please pray for Philip and his family; with the likelihood of returning for a funeral in the near future, this will be a very short visit. His siblings living in the area have done an amazing job of shouldering the load and caring for Dad and Mom in this very difficult time - pray that he will be able to encourage and affirm them. Pray for our girls; they are obviously very sad, and though we've been honest with them about the realities of his situation, they are still hoping for recovery. I'm sure there will be many tears shed over the next few days - I woke this morning to find Lydia curled up at the foot of our bed.
Thank you for your love and prayers - they bless us more than we'll ever be able to communicate.
Three weeks ago, he was finally moved to rehab, and we hoped that he would begin to gain strength, but it became very obvious two nights ago that those weak systems were not recovering, other infections had set in and that what had been intended as temporary measures were now all that sustained him. That is very much against his expressed wishes, and on Sunday, the family made the very difficult decision to honor his wishes; he will be taken off life support equipment on Monday morning. The assumption is that he will not live for very long after it is removed, almost certainly no more than a day or two.
So please pray for Philip and his family; with the likelihood of returning for a funeral in the near future, this will be a very short visit. His siblings living in the area have done an amazing job of shouldering the load and caring for Dad and Mom in this very difficult time - pray that he will be able to encourage and affirm them. Pray for our girls; they are obviously very sad, and though we've been honest with them about the realities of his situation, they are still hoping for recovery. I'm sure there will be many tears shed over the next few days - I woke this morning to find Lydia curled up at the foot of our bed.
Thank you for your love and prayers - they bless us more than we'll ever be able to communicate.
posted by Liz Cutler Gates at Monday, September 20, 2010
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